Sometimes we forget our important thoughts, or we remember them and they sound strange, or we become afraid of them. Afraid of success. Afraid of failure. Like writing this book. Some days I became nauseated at the thought of working on it. On other days, I simply "forgot" I was writing it, or I became afraid that it all sounded stupid, harsh, boring, and trite. Often, I couldn't remember why I was doing it; then I was afraid I would never finish.
Writing a book is a lot like job hunting. Some days you forget why you're doing it you just know that you must. Or you become sick at the thought of it. You can sometimes become afraid that you sound stupid, or are doing the wrong things, or will embarrass yourself, or you'll never finish.
But somehow one day at a time it gets done. A job hunter makes a phone call, writes a proposal, researches a company. Every day you make a new decision to do your best no matter how you feel about it. You sit down and do what you must do. That is discipline: to continue to job hunt or to continue to write regardless of how you feel. And then you get into it and it flows.
Then you have to remember where you were trying to head yourself. Job hunting or writing a book was supposed to take you somewhere.
When one lives without a clear value structure, it is both difficult to direct life in the long run and difficult to experience a sense of meaningfulness that comes from following a prescribed course. It is possible to sail a boat, for example, without charts or a compass. However, the absence of a chart prevents the possibility of a journey. One is limited to "day" sailing, so that new destinations and new challenges are out of reach. Eventually the same seascape and circumstances will produce tedium not unlike the absence of meaning associated with a present centered existence. HERBERT RAPPAPORT, PH.D. Marking Time
It is easy to get caught up in your day to day activities. Your life can get off course; you become distracted. You may even discover you have veered from your true path for a number of years. That's OK. Bring yourself back and walk toward your goal. Stay with your own direction the one that is in your heart. Deep down, you know when things are right and when things are not. Keep walking toward your goal.
Don't be bound by your past. It is important to remember that you are not whatever your jobs have been. We don't exist on a sheet of paper a resume. Don't identify too strongly with it. Stay fluid behind those words on the page. They are not you, but simply a sales tool.
The power is in what you are doing now and in your pull toward the future. The power is in the act of living each day to the fullest. It is the direction we are each heading in that is important. Look to the future. We constantly gain new insights, new visions.
Taking the long view can give you satisfaction. A stone mason working on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine was asked how he could keep on cutting those stones year after year. He said he was not cutting stones he was building a cathedral.
Interviewing can soften you. It can broaden your horizons and make you realize there is a big world out there with lots of interesting things to do. In talking to people, you can see that it is not all so pat so clearly spelled out what a person should "be." There are endless variations, and when you realize how much variety there is, you also realize that, in the end, it is largely up to you to choose what you will be. We each have a place. Find your place. Live your part.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was driven by his dream. Your main drives, threads, inclinations, also have power. You will come back to them again and again in your life because you are driven to do these things. They will come out. Why not harness that energy and direct it consciously rather than letting it rule you? In the right situations, your drives are a benefit and can add to your success. But in the wrong situations, they will still appear over and over, and they can harm you.
Better to find out clearly what they are, and go where they are valued. Then you will have a happy marriage between you and your environment. Then you will no longer be swimming against the tide, but will let the tide take you to new heights and a new sense of satisfaction.
They say, "Go with the flow." Go with your own flow. Go in the direction you were meant to take. Find out what it is that motivates you, and go with it.
Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow.
When you find out what you are inside, it will give you great energy and a happy obsession to realize it. When this happens, people say that their jobs are fun, and not work at all. There is nothing else they would rather be doing.
There is a freedom in fulfilling your function in the world to know you are in the right place, doing what is right for you. You are fulfilled when you know what you are, know what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and are doing it. When what you should be doing hits you, and you make it a conscious part of yourself, you won't get easily sidetracked. You will know what's right for you, and you will care.
Accept yourself as you are and be grateful. Then go for it. Be who God made you and do it all the way. Don't hold yourself back, but turn to face the world. Take your dreams and goals seriously, and your life will be simpler and have direction.
If you don't know what your dreams and goals are, then think about yourself. Live your life and observe yourself. Do the Seven Stories exercise and observe the real you the you, that does certain things no matter what. Ask a friend to help you find your threads.
